China New Energy Vehicle Retail Sales Jump 33% in July Despite Cooling Passenger Car Market

BEIJING, August 2 (TiPost)— China’s electric vehicle (EV) market continued to showcase resilience despite the cooling overall automobile market.

Credit：Visual China

Retail sales of passenger cars dropped year-over-year (YoY) 5% to 1.734 million units in July, representing a 8% month-over-month (MoM) decline, while sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), jumped 33% YoY with a 3% MoM decrease that month, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

CPCA data showed retail sales of passenger vehicles from January to July totaled 11.259 million units, edging up 1% YoY, and those of NEVs surged 37% to 3.73 million. Wholesale sales of passenger cars totaled 13.085 million units with a 6% YoY increase, and those of NEVs gained 42% to 4.299 million.

The yearly decline in overall passenger vehicle market is unsurprising given base effect, CPCA commented, citing the vehicle purchase tax reduction Beijing introduced in July, 2022. The auto industry body noted July is a typical off-season for auto market, but the local government’s stimulus policy was still strong, along with automakers’ ongoing promotion, helped maintain resilience of consumption.  

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued a notice in June to launch a nationwide promotion from that month to December to boost auto sales. The ministry said the promotional activities will focus on boosting consumption in the whole supply chain of the auto industry, including new vehicle sales, second-hand vehicle sales, upgrades and the automotive aftermarket. Localities with coordinate and plan auto consumption promotion activities and based on local recommendations, and governments of many counties and townships across the country will organize activities to promote sales of NEVs, according to the notice.

China’s state planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and twelve other government agencies released a host of measures to bolster automobile consumption in July. The public sector was required to increase purchase for NEVs and authorities would support purchase of NEVs or replacement with NEVs for public works, public transport, rental, postal services, sanitation, gardens and other fields in the public sector, according to the official document.

The document suggested loosening the vehicle purchase curbs for private use to reduce pollution and traffic congestion. It called for stronger financial services for automobile consumption, and made it clear the support for promotions in auto industry hosted by the industry associations, chambers of commerce, automobile companies or financial institutions. It said that local government shall “avoid vicious competition” and not introduce protectionist policies, while maintaining the industry order and fostering a market environment with friendly policies for automobile consumption.

NDRC further rolled out a host of measures to spur consumption in late July. Its notice said China vowed to boost consumption of a wide range of items and services including NEVs as well as that in rural areas. The notice also said local authorities should not unveil new measures to restrict auto purchase, while regions that have already had restrictive measures on auto purchasing should improve these measures in order to adapt to local conditions. The notice called for building high-quality charging infrastructure, promote the use of NEVs in rural areas, and maintain and improve the favorable tax incentives for NEV purchase.

A number of Chinese EV companies released their recent monthly results earlier this week, highlighting their robust growth amid headwinds including macroeconomic challenges. The No.1 EV manufacturer BYD sold 262,200 NEVs in July, breaking its record for the third consecutive month with a 61.3% increase. Sales of Aion, a brand owned by the state-owned manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC), increased 80% YoY to 45,025 vehicles in July, setting sales record for the fifth consecutive month. Delivery of Li Auto climbed 227.5% YoY to 34,134 vehicles, refreshing a record the EV company made in June. Nio Inc also shattered record in July. The EV maker delivered 20,462 vehicles in July, surging 103.6% from a year ago.

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